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[beautifulrondo]

Name: Hayley
Personal Journal: shadetoshade
Contact: AIM: EternalDreamer2k PM: Character Journal or personal Plurk: shadetoshade
Other Characters Played: n/a

Character: Vyers (AKA: Mid-Boss)
Series: Disgaea
Age: Older than 3500 (I put him around 5000), looks to be in his late-20s to early 30s
History:

Approximately two years before the beginning of Disgaea, the overlord of the Netherworld, King Krichevskoy, fought against an invading force from an alternate netherworld, Baal, the Lord of Terror. Krichevskoy succeeded in locking Baal away, but died in the process. Returning to his castle, he came in contact with one of his vassals, Etna, who was ready to sacrifice her life to save him, like Krichevskoy’s wife had done for his son Laharl. Etna was stopped, however, and Krichevskoy died of his wounds.

He was later revived at the hands of Seraph Lamington, though he was far less powerful than he was before. Though grateful for Lamington’s deed, he returned to the Netherworld, knowing of the chaos that would be going on due to the sudden death of its Overlord, adopting the name Vyers to hide his identity.

During the two years his son was asleep, Vyers was challenging and defeating numerous challengers for the throne, earning him a little bit of notoriety. At the same time, he spoke with Seraph Lamington, eventually fleshing out an idea to help bring the Netherworld and Celestia together through the meeting of Laharl and the angel trainee Flonne.

Vyers first met up with Laharl again in the castle he had acquired. The two fought against one another (an event prompted by Vyers receiving the nickname “Mid-Boss”) with Vyers losing and running off to fight Laharl another day. He would engage Laharl many more times, testing Laharl’s strength and character to see if he had what it took to become a great overlord.

When Laharl was ready to sacrifice himself to bring Flonne back from being a flower due to the Seraph’s punishment, Vyers intervened, letting him know that Flonne would return to normal shortly. Once they were reunited, Vyers took his leave, disappearing in a brilliant flash of white light alongside the Queen.


Canon Point: Post Disgaea good end


Personality:

Vyers, upon first glance, is a difficult demon to take seriously. Vain and seemingly self-absorbed, he is quick to praise himself and even quicker to react to negative criticism or anything he sees as a slight with snappiness. At the same time, he is polite and proper to the point of being pretentious, and he will sprinkle his speech with the occasional (and often incorrectly used) French word. In fact, he seems to be doing his best to sound like a gentleman out of a romance novel, especially since his behavior toward women tends to lean toward the flirtatious side.

It seems very natural for Vyers to put on an act or lean toward the dramatic. His descriptions are rather purple and if he feels the need to intervene in anything, he will often do so in a way that puts the limelight on himself. His interactions with others almost always have a bit of a theatrical flair.

That being said, he’s not a very good actor. The image Vyers presents to the world is an act he puts on to conceal his identity as the resurrected King Krichevskoy, but, for the most part, it seems to not be too far from his real personality. When acting as Krichevskoy he takes the route that leads him to the limelight (such as holding a tournament when he has returned to his real identity in the fourth game’s DLC) or making the occasional comment about how incredible or pure or good-looking he is. "Vyers" seems to mostly be a more exaggerated version of Krichevskoy's natural personality for the most part, but with a romantic flair.

With that in mind, let's talk about Krichevskoy for a bit. Krichevskoy is remembered by the Netherworld as a great leader, kind, fair, and non-discriminating. In flashbacks he is shown to be calm and wise, dispensing advice to those who would listen. He talks primarily of how close demons, angels, and humans really are, and how he would like to end prejudice between the three species. He has a kind heart, as evidenced by his helping a young Etna bury her dog when it was killed by demon nobles, and he was willing to give his life in order to make sure Baal did not invade the Netherworld.

However, it can be assumed that while he is willing to dispense advice regarding others' emotions and friendships, he has the typical demon reaction of shying away from those sorts of things when they are in direct relation to himself--or at least handling his own issues himself. While the vassals in the castle seemed aware of Baal's threat, it's up in the air as to how much Krichevskoy told them about his plans to take Baal out, and Laharl outright dismisses them as legend. The only person who really seemed to have known that Krichevskoy planned to seal Baal, or even take him on, was Etna, and that was only because she saw him shortly before his death.

Whether Vyers or Krichevskoy, Vyers can be extremely emotional. When he reacts to a slight, he reacts strongly, and Krichevskoy was in fact known for causing natural disasters when feeling particularly strongly (knocking over mountains because he was overjoyed when Laharl's mother accepted his proposal, freezing the ocean because he was happy when Laharl was born, splitting the Netherworld in two when he was grieving his wife's death).

Vyers is also a terrible liar. If he has time to think up an excuse or a lie, or if it's a lie by omission, he can pull it off, but if it's on the spot you tend to instead get generic excuses at best and horrible, comical ones at worst. His lies also tend to fall apart when vanity is involved. After all, his look as Vyers is essentially the same as how Krichevskoy looked when he was younger only minus the antennae and a more casual outfit.

He can be very persistent (if not outright stubborn) when he wants to be. If he has a goal in mind--be it bringing humans, angels, and demons closer together; stopping an Overlord from an alternate Netherworld from invading his own Netherworld; or making sure his son becomes the best Overlord and person he can be--he will pursue it until he can physically no longer do so. He is so determined to keep an eye on Laharl that that Lamington has to make him rest because he pushed himself too far and put too much strain on his temporary body.

For all of his eccentricities and despite how "normal" he is in his views compared to other demons, Vyers is still a demon at heart. He enjoys a good battle from time to time and he is more accepting of violence and the use of force than others might be due to growing up in the Netherworld. That isn't to say he approves of violence at all times. If it's against someone who can't fight back, for example, I think he would intervene, and he would do the same if it was unnecessarily cruel. But persuading a political body by force/checking up on your son by attempting to beat the tar out of him/trying to get your point across through battle? That's a-okay.

And really, it's a bit more complicated than that, but if I were to start going on about demon ethics we'd probably be here all day.

He also has a mischievous side. When the party comes across him in Celestia, he listens to them guess why he is able to enter the gate to Celestia as well, buzzing out their wrong answers like a game show host. And in his Disgaea 2 cameo, he gives Adell and Rozalin the ending they asked to see... credits with his theme song and his image in the background.

Finally, it's important to note that Vyers will act differently depending on how much of the Disgaea cast is around. If Laharl, Etna, and Flonne are around, he will be more on the wacky side; if other members of the Disgaea cast are around, he might be more serious but still very comic relief-y; and if most are gone for a long enough period of time he will eventually lean toward a more relaxed, more serious personality. I got bored one day and described all that here. Mostly though, this change in behavior has to do with the fact that he does not want those three to know that he is really Krichevskoy. While he dropped hints near the end of the game, he never actually told them his identity. It's more likely that he would prefer to watch over, guide, and protect Laharl (and probably Etna as well) in silence and make sure that the two of them become better people as they go through life, similarly to what his wife did for them after her death as a Prinny in the castle. After all, his worry for Laharl was one of his main reasons for returning to begin with.


Skills and Abilities:

As a demon, Vyers is much stronger, faster, and sturdier than a human. Extreme heat and cold aren't much of a problem for him. However, compared to most demons, he is solidly at a middling level of power--a fair portion of the characters in Disgaea could easily take him, as could many other powerful characters.

In general, Vyers is capable of using demonic energy to attack, creating rose petals to attack with, creating doppelgangers of himself, and summoning a small, crescent-shaped meteor (about twice his size). The rose petals also come in the form of a simple rose, though he tends to use those more as a prop than to attack with, and his doppelgangers can only be used in short bursts (in other words, they can't be used for an extended period of time), and he can only make a maximum of three at this point in his canon.

He combines these abilities to make four special attacks:

Adonic Shot - Vyers gathers a ball of energy about one and a half times his size and tosses it at the opponent

Adonic Blast - Vyers summons a storm of rose petals to slash at the enemy

Adonic Fury - Vyers summons his doppelgangers to beat up on one opponent and follows it up with a concentrated pillar of dark energy

Adonic Buster - Vyers rides down on a crescent-shaped meteor about the size of a small house

He is also skilled with hand-to-hand combat, spears, and swords, but due to his current state he is unable to use the skills associated with these weapons and probably wouldn't be able to use spears or swords at all in any areas from Disgaea.

With all that said, Vyers has to be careful how he uses his power. His reincarnation was initially supposed to be temporary, and so he can wear it out with enough abuse. Holy/light weapons and skills, as well as anything specifically meant to hurt demons, will pack a bigger punch to him than other weapons or skills, but they probably won't hurt him as much as they would other demons. He was brought back via the Seraph's power, after all, and it left enough of an impact on himself that when he teleports in in his cameos white feathers and wings are a part of his entrance. Anything meant to take down the undead, however, will not have any extra effect. He's still technically alive.

Also, though he's not incredibly powerful now, he has incredible potential and with time he is able to regain the power he had in the past. Eventually he will be able to do things like summon a veritable army of doppelgangers for use in an attack, summon three for extended use in battle, combine Adonic Fury and Adonic Buster, make use of weapons/weapon skills in Disgaea settings, and generally gain back the power he had in his prime as Overlord. However, this is not without a LOT of training and time--a matter of years, rather than months.

Battle aside, Vyers is a resourceful, quick thinker. He can plan on the spot or change his plan as needed and work with what he has. He's no super genius, but in the years Laharl was asleep, he was able to create a small following for himself and fight off other contenders to the throne. In addition to this, in Etna Mode he is able to come up with an idea on the spot to "mediate" between Maderas and Etna, setting up a duel between the two of them with the Demon Tome (a book that serves as proof that the holder is from the royal family/worthy of being Overlord) as prize, thus giving Etna an opening to take Maderas by surprise when she comes early.

Vyers is very good with reading and gathering people. He can tell when something is upsetting someone and acts accordingly, whether that means taking action to make them feel better or giving them space.

Also, Vyers is capable of flight, though this ability is tied to his jacket. His bolero's coattails can act as wings, but without it Vyers has none.


First Person Sample:

How?! How in the world could those people have known about that dreadful nickname! I have not even been here five minutes and still those incessant, mocking cries follow moi wherever I go! Is there no place where I can find sanctuary? No place where I am safe from that false name thrust upon moi?

O, how cruel the thorns of slander are! Although if it is true that a Dark Assembly exists in this area...

Ah, but after all that I have neglected to give a proper introduction! Bonjour! I am known as the Dark Adonis, Vyers. It is a pleasure to meet your acquaintance. I assume you were brought here in the same manner as moiself?


Third Person Sample:

He was pushing it. He'd known he had been pushing it even before Lamington had admonished him about his actions. And yet, even knowing that, even knowing that he was putting himself in danger of running out of time, he still couldn't sit idly by and wait. It may have been simple impatience. It may have even been him making excuses for selfishness. But deep down there was something about this that didn't seem right.

Those Defenders of Earth... They hadn't been part of the plan. It wasn't uncommon for Heroes to travel to the Netherworld to test their worth and challenge the Overlord, but there was something different about these three. They didn't seem terribly powerful, but at the same time they didn't seem inexperienced, and he could have sworn he had heard something about them being sent to the Netherworld on orders from another party. His netherworld had hardly ever bothered the Human World attached to it, much less made designs upon it as far as he could remember, so what need would the Human World have to send these Defenders at them now?

No, there was something very strange about this.

...And yet, it wasn't entirely bad, either.

Hadn't he always told Laharl that demons, humans, and angels weren't that different? And now, here in front of him, was a group made up of all three getting along.

Vyers crouched behind a rock near one of the lava flows of the Sea of Gehenna as he watched the group. They seemed to be fairly excited about whatever it was they were doing. Even Laharl looked fairly upbeat. He had originally planned to test them, but now Vyers was wondering if he should just leave it at this.

And then he caught it.

Drifting on the air like a gentle blossom, sweeter than a drop of sugar after a lifetime of salt, the scent of a true, honest-to-god homemade lunch! How long had it been since he had tasted such delicacies? Simple as it might be to some, after weeks of reheating and instant food, of cans held over a fire, only his own beauty could compare!

His stomach gave a growl of encouragement and it was all Vyers needed to make his decision. With a single, elegant leap he bound into action, snatching the ambrosia straight from Flonne's hand. "En garde!"

"Ah, the picnic basket!!"